Thursday, March 29, 2018

Hey lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host Peggy Jaeger and her new book, “Can’t Stand the
Heat”! For other stops on her Goddess
Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the
images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Peggy
and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!

Can’t Stand the Heat

by Peggy Jaeger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

With
three successful TV series under her belt, including her cousin Kandy’s,
executive producer Stacy Peters is ready to helm her own show. But to make that
happen, she has to do her network boss one favor first—spend two months on a
ranch in Montana wrangling the notoriously difficult director of Beef Battles.
Apparently, he eats producers for breakfast. Yet all Stacy can think when she
meets the lean, rugged man is how hungry he makes her…

Dominic
Stamp—Nikko to his very few friends—has had enough interference from TV
newbies. And when Stacy climbs out of the car in Montana, he’s not convinced
she’s even old enough to drive, much less produce his show. But he can’t deny
that the long-legged blonde with the stubborn will and the dazzling smile whets
his appetite. And as Stacy proves her talent with the crew and the budget
alike, Nikko vows to prove to her that love is on the menu for both of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT TWO:

When
Dan Roth caught her eye and grinned widely behind his costar’s back, Stacy
lowered her head and bit down on the inside of her lip. If she hadn’t been
looking down she would have noticed Nikko stop. But she hadn’t been looking
where she was going and, subsequently, barreled right into him.

She
would have ricocheted back and fallen from connecting with the solid wall of
his chest as she hit if he hadn’t thrust his hands forward and grabbed her
upper arms to prevent it.

Like
a blast from a stun gun—quick, sharp and penetrating—she felt the heat of his
touch burn through her blouse and sear straight through her skin.

Numbed,
she dropped her tablet, her hands incapable of holding onto it. They splayed,
open palmed, and sought purchase by grasping his elbows and clutching.

“Steady,”
he commanded.

Stacy
felt anything but. Words wouldn’t form correctly in her mind. All logical,
rational thought had flown the moment the warmth of his hands seeped through
the fabric of her blouse. It was as if she’d walked into an oven, the
temperature set to broil.

His
long fingers squeezed once, twice, then tugged her in closer.

Stacy couldn’t decide which was more intense:
the heat in his eyes or the natural warmth radiating from his body.

“I’m—I’m
sorry. I didn’t…I wasn’t…I—Sorry.” She tried to pull from his grasp, but he
wouldn’t let go.

As
earlier when she’d caught him staring at her, she once again felt the
mesmerizing pull of his gaze and was powerless to look away.

And
for some inexplicable reason found she didn’t want to.

The
little shards of amber floating among the cognac color of his irises were
lighter and brighter than she remembered. They looked like a wolf’s eyes, and,
just like a wolf, their stare was predatory, alpha, and hypnotic.

“Nikko? We’ll all set to start up again,” Todd
called from the doorway of the production trailer.

Without
looking away from her, he called back, “Be right in.” He still hadn’t let go of
her arms.

From
deep down, as deep as she could reach, Stacy grappled for calm. She watched him
watch her while she took a solid, full breath in, then relaxed it out.

“I’m
sorry,” she said when she trusted her voice wouldn’t betray her again. “I
wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

She
shifted back, away from him, but he kept his hands around her.

This
close she could read the exhaustion floating in his eyes and his determination
to ignore it.

This
close she could see the fine, subtle lines fanning out from the corners of his
eyes as he narrowed them at her.

This
close she could reach out and smooth the corrugations grooving down from his
mouth to his rock solid jaw. That she wanted to do just that, to offer him any
comfort she could, to soothe the pain he tried so valiantly to keep hidden,
stunned her beyond all thought.

Nikko
Stamp was not a man who would ever tolerate being comforted or coddled.

Why,
then, did she think it was exactly what he needed?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GUEST POST:

Lessons I learned from my Heroine

When
I first introduced my heroine in Can’t
Stand The Heat, Stacy Peters, to the book reading world in Cooking With
Kandy, she was a hardworking, problem solving and uber-calm personal assistant
and television assistant producer. Now, several years later, she is still the
hardest working person on any and all the shows she’s executive produced, and
is described as being the calming influence in any storm or crisis that blows
up. That makes her the ideal person to keep the network’s new food competition,
Beef Battles, and it’s fiery tempered director Dominick (Nitro Nikko) Stamp on
the straight and narrow. While Stacy’s rep is as a people pleasing, always
professional executive producer, Nikko’s is just the opposite. His legendary
temper and my-way-or-the-highway control are the perfect foils for Stacy’s
demeanor and polish. And you know what they say about opposites attracting.

While
I was fleshing Stacy’s backstory out, I realized I had to give her a reason to
be the calm one in a family of dramatic overachievers. She’s a devoted yoga
practitioner and meditates daily, the reason for both explained in the book. As
I placed her in scenes with an overbearing, shouting, and sometimes out of
control Nikko, keeping her calm and relying on all her meditative training had
a positive influence on me as well as Nikko.

I am
your typical knee-jerk reactor. When something happens that I don’t like, or
that makes me mad/upset/scared, I react with a quick negative barb, a firm “no”
if I am asked to do something, and then a petulant pout when I am called on the
carpet about my attitude. When Nikko confronts Stacy in ways that would make me
cringe or scream, she takes a breath – mentally and physically – and remains in
control of her reactions. By doing this all the time, she begins to have a
positive effect on Nikko’s attitude and temper as well. He even makes reference
several times to how calm he always feels when she is in the vicinity, or if he
knows she is taking caring of a technical problem that would routinely set him
off on an angry tirade.

Taking
both a literal and figurative breath before reacting to a situation is
something I have never done before, and to write a scene where a character does
that, prompted me to see what it would feel like if I did it. So I did. Several
times. And you know what? It’s become a habit. Now, when confronted with a
situation I would previously have responded to without thought or
consideration, I too, take that moment, that physical and mental breath that
Stacy does, to gather my thoughts and consider how I react.

My
family, friends, even telemarketers, are all benefiting from that breath, too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:

Peggy Jaegeris a
contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who
support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Family
and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is
nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or
ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving,
Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling
rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever
after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters,
brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their
way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely
child.

Tying
into her love of families, her children's book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.

Peggy
holds a master's degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication
with several articles she authored on Alzheimer's Disease during her time
running an Alzheimer's in-patient care unit during the 1990s.

In
2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest:
Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance.

In
2017 she came in 3rd in the New England Reader's Choice contest for A KISS
UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and was a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for
the same title.

A
lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her
local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Hello
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Howard Weiner and his new
book, “One for the Price of Two”! For
other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the
banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be
sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Howard and to increase your chances of winning!

This
book is one SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!! See below for more details.

Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!

One
for the Price of Two

by
Howard Weiner

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Fiction, Thriller, Crime

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Fraternal
twins are raised by an ambivalent aunt who provides an unusual childhood
experience. One twin leaves home to join the armed forces and is ultimately
assigned to a Special Forces unit conducting clandestine operations in North
Korea. The death of one his unit members produces an introduction to an
organized crime family specializing in murder for hire. The funeral for the
family's son and an interest in their daughter brings new blood and methods to
the family business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT TWO:

Bell
hadn’t given the matter substantial thought beforehand. He expected to be
greeted by an undertaker and a funeral hearse. That’s what the briefing packet
stated. Instead, the hangar held only a recent model pickup truck—badly in need
of a wash and wax. The truck belonged to the sister, not Uncle Seb. Yet another
oddity.

The
airport personnel maneuvered the cargo lift to the rear door of the plane. The
metal casket glided across the bed of rollers in the plane’s cargo hold and
onto the lift platform’s roller mat. A single member of the ground crew
completed the task, and the cargo lift pivoted toward the pickup truck where
two ground crew slid the casket onto the bed of the truck and closed the
truck’s lift gate.

Carrullo’s
sister and uncle moved to the truck. At the last moment, the sister looked in
Bell’s direction and motioned for him to join them. Bell grabbed his army
issued duffle and hustled across the expanse of oil stained concrete for his
trip to meet the rest of the Carrullo clan.

The
ride from the airport to the family home in North Hills was uncomfortable. The
sister said nothing. Not a single word. By contrast, Uncle Seb continued the
outward signs of shock and grief.

The
truck emerged from the Fort Pitt Tunnel, crossed Three Rivers at the Point, and
continued north on I-79 to the Wexford exit. Carrullo regaled Bell with stories
about the area’s frequent snowfall and how the cinders spread on the roadways
turned the white snow into a dirty palette of brown. Carrullo hadn’t
exaggerated. They drove past mile after mile of dirty snow.

Bell
wore only his uniform, having forgotten to take an overcoat, muffler, or
gloves. He wanted to ask if the truck’s heating system worked. It was a newer
model after all, but the prospect of interrupting the uncle’s wailing and the
sister’s quiet resolve seemed inappropriate. That and the empty coffee cups,
crushed bakery boxes, and discarded fast food wrappers on the floor suggested
comfort wasn’t a high priority. By the time the truck turned onto the family
homestead’s driveway, Bell lost all feeling in his feet and hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:

Howard Weiner is a
recent addition to the literary genre of fiction. Writing mysteries, thrillers,
crimes—with a touch of romance—an approach described by one reader as “one
bubble off.” Many authors sharing the genre have characters whose fortune is
determined by others. They literally have dodged the bullet that otherwise
would have killed them. Weiner’s characters make their own fortune—good or
bad—and they live with the results.

Weiner’s
own experiences are blessed with no small number of noteworthy characters and
events. He brings these slightly off-kilter individuals to life, complete with
their own stories and dramas. Like the child prodigy in his first novel,
"It Is Las Vegas After All", who comes to the starting edge of
adulthood and then loses the approval of his doting parents, the sponsorship of
one of America’s great institutions of higher education, and gains the enmity
of his girlfriend’s father—an international arms dealer—to become a home-grown
terrorist operating on U.S. Soil.

A
survivor of rich, nuanced bureaucracies in the public and private sector,
Weiner writes about characters whose career choices and decisions are morally
questionable. A student of personal behavior in complex circumstances, Weiner
brings these often cringe-worthy characters to life. Some are amoral, others
immoral in a narrow slice of their lives, yet they otherwise look and act like
people we all know from work or even childhood. Like one of the female leads in
his novel, "Serendipity Opportunity", an out-of-the-box thinker who
flunks most of life’s basic relationship tests, yet she is someone you never
want pursuing you in the cause of justice. There’s a former foreign security
official who uses his protected status as a witness for federal prosecutors to
provide cover for his own mayhem and murder in Weiner’s third novel, "Bad
Money".

Many
of Weiner’s stories are born out of real life events: The mix-up in luggage
claim at the airport in, "Bad Money", the chronic high school slacker
in "Serendipity Opportunity" whose one stroke of good fortune creates
his opportunity to perpetrate a complex series of frauds, or the brilliant
student in "It Is Las Vegas After All" who uses his prodigious
talents toward an evil end.

As a
former federal official, Weiner can neither confirm nor deny having the highest
security clearances in classified security programs. Yet, his knowledge of the
dark web, criminal organizations, and security organizations takes stories from
the popular press to the next level.

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Hello lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host Julia Donner and her new book, “The Rake and the
Bishop’s Daughter”! For other stops on
her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any
of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Julia
and to increase your chances of winning!

This book is one SALE
during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!
See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!

The Rake and the Bishop’s Daughter

by Julia Donner

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Regency Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Society’s
beloved wastrel, Sir Harry Collyns, pushes his popularity past the point of
acceptability when he poses for a statue that creates a social uproar. People
line up for blocks to see Handsome Harry in the nude, sculpted by a female
artist! Bored with the fuss and scandal, Harry hitches up his fastest team,
heads for the country, and a near fatal curricle accident. When the bandages
are removed from his head days later, he discovers the angel-voiced widow who’d
cared for him is neither elderly nor as mild as her tone, but a straight-laced
do-gooder unimpressed with his flamboyant past and dashing good looks.
Head-battered and heading for a broken heart, he falls into love with Widow
Olivia St. Clair, who might be the one woman in England that Harry can’t charm
into loving him back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE
EXCERPT:

As
they passed under the archway entrance and onto a broad path, she said, “It’s
been so many years since I’ve ridden here.”

“Before
marriage to Reverend St. Clair?” Harry asked.

“The
fall of my coming out, which I heartily disliked.”

“Was
that when Goodfall ingratiated himself with your family?”

She
glanced at him. Harry rarely spoke sarcastically or in a harsh tone. He stated
his likes and dislikes plainly, sometimes even joyfully, which made acrimony
sound foreign when it came out of his mouth.

Veering
away from an uncomfortable subject, she said, “I loved the escape of riding in
the early morning, when there was rarely anyone on Rotten Row. With only a
groom in attendance, I could pretend to be far away from the city. Here, sadly,
there are no rolling pastures to gallop across, no barriers to leap over, but
the fragrance of the moist earth and growing things helped carry me away in my
imagination from the city’s smell and activity.”

Harry
asked, “Where did spend your childhood?”

Olivia
glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “On one or another of
Grandfather’s estates. I didn’t see much of Mother and Father. Their church
obligations kept them occupied. After I grew beyond the age of having a nurse,
Mrs. Oliphant, a distant relative, was hired by Grandfather as governess. She
later became companion and lived with me at Beechgate. She’s quite elderly, and
I expect will wish to return to a more retiring environment.”

“More
retiring? I can’t imagine Lesser Beardsley as a beehive of frivolity and social
activity.”

Olivia
softly laughed. “No. But I was not an easy child.”

Harry
turned slightly in the saddle to playfully stare at her. “You intrigue me. You
were naughty?”

“No.
Merely headstrong, and on occasion, adventurous. There was some difficulty
convincing me to come down from the trees. I would climb up one every time told
to do something I didn’t wish to do.”

He
flashed one of his heart-stopping smiles. “Such as finish your porridge?”

“Not
at all. I love porridge. It was more on the order of completing my lessons,
especially French and art. I have no female accomplishments.”

He
darkly murmured, “You have other, much more interesting attributes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:

Julia Donner (aka M.L.Rigdon)grew
up in historic Galena, IL, USA, and spent most of her time in the museum of her
aunt, who encouraged her interest in history and understood the need to cherish
a dream. She started writing in secret in her teens and never stopped, merging
it with her mother's encouragement to study theater and music, which led to
performing in the Midwest, California and as far away as Austria.

Donner
never forgot what it was like to write alone as a girl and is a happy member of
Summit City Scribes. Concern for the failing educational system led her to
develop Your Futures in Ink, a panel of local and regional authors, who go into
to schools to encourage students and answer questions about writing.

THE TIGRESSE AND THE RAVEN,
first book in the regency Friendship
Series, is an RWA contest finalist. The ninth book in the series, A ROGUE FOR MISS PRIM and the tenth, AN AMERICAN FOR AGNES, are available
now. A LAIRD’S PROMISE will be
released by Spring 2018.

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

Hi lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host Melanie Hansen and her new book, “Point of Contact”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.

Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Melanie
and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!

Point of Contact

by Melanie Hansen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Contemporary Romance (M/M)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

There'd
forever been a thread running through Trevor Estes's life—his son Riley, strong
and constant like heartbeat. But when Riley is killed in combat, everything in
Trevor's life unravels into a mess he doesn't know how to mourn.

Until
Jesse Byrne, Riley's friend and platoon mate, arrives on his doorstep with a
box of Riley's things. Jesse's all-too-familiar grief provides an unlikely
source of comfort for Trevor; knowing he's not alone is exactly what he needs.
Trevor never imagined he'd find someone who fills his heart with hope again. As
the pair celebrate Riley's memory, their unique bond deepens into something
irreplaceable—and something neither man can live without.

But
diving into a relationship can't be so simple. Being together means Trevor
risking the last link he has to his son...leaving Jesse to wonder if he'll ever
be enough, or if Trevor will always be haunted by the past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT THREE:

Trevor
reached up to brush Jesse’s tears away, letting his thumb linger along his
cheek. “So thank you. Thanks for letting me see my son through you.”

Jesse’s
lips trembled. “I miss him. I miss him so much.”

Trevor
slid his hand to the back of Jesse’s neck. “I know.”

With
a small sob, Jesse reached out to wrap his arms around Trevor, pulling him
close. His body was shaking, tremors of grief Trevor knew only too well
wracking him from head to toe. All around them the world ebbed and flowed,
oblivious to the fact a twenty-year-old boy had been torn from it, leaving
behind two people who’d loved him and who now clung together, their shared pain
a strange sort of comfort.

Trevor
stroked Jesse’s hair as he shuddered against him, biting his own lip against
the tears that stung his eyes. This was Jesse’s fight, and Trevor marshaled
every ounce of composure he could, determined to be strong in return for this
man who’d given him so much.

“It’s
okay,” he murmured over and over. “It’s okay to miss him. I miss him, too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:

Melanie Hansenlikes
to consider herself a cynic, but at heart she’s a hopeless romantic. Every
morning she gets up before dawn to spend time with her characters, creating
stories that are deeply emotional, sometimes heartbreaking, but in the end
where love always wins. Melanie’s proud of the fact that two of her books have
been named as RT Book Reviews Top Picks.

She
grew up with an Air Force dad, ended up marrying a Navy man, and has lived and
worked all over the country. Melanie hopes to bring these rich and varied life
experiences to her stories about people finding love amidst real-life
struggles.

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.